The months of 2014 are whirring by but that’s no reason for print providers to not consider offering calendars as part of their product portfolio.
The UK is well provided for in punching and wire binding systems, with Renz having a UK office, Rilecart and James Burn International selling respectively through UK distributors Joto and Simply Print Finishing, and Perfect Document Creation also selling spiral and plastic coil binding systems. There are options to suit every pocket depth.
This is just as well, since the calendar market shows little sign of being hit by the digital stick. People apparently still appreciate the physical reminder of a printed calendar, still enjoy flipping over to the new month and a fresh new image on their wall or desktop.
‘It’s a growing market. People still like the touch of a photobook or calendar. It’s something they will keep forever,’ said Dermot Callaghan of Renz UK. ‘Everyone is walking around with lots of photos, pictures of their grandkids etc. With wider formats being possible I can see it increasing. We have certainly not seen a decrease in numbers.’
There are distinct parts to the market. The million run pop star and Premiership football calendars are printed offset much earlier in the year (and usually in Eastern Europe or the Far East). Working on a more on demand basis are major digital players such as Harrier, Precision Printing and Prime Group – the sort of companies that will invest in a B2 HP Indigo 10000 to help make calendar production more efficient. There are still opportunities for print companies beneath these levels though.
They have the printing equipment already in general – although the long sheet format of the Kodak Nexpress and the MGI Meteor, for example, is also very useful for this kind of application. Most calendars are wire-bound, in tent card format for desktop, or with the thumb-cut loop for wall hanging. Many companies start by dipping their toe in the water, said Gail Wotherspoon of Simply Print Finishing:
‘Wire binding is still fairly niche compared to other finishing, so people will not tend to go in all guns blazing. They will dip their toe in the water and gradually increase as volumes grow. Some trade suppliers are coming down for short run and one-off calendars that their large equipment is not ideal for.’
Both Renz and Simply Print Finishing are getting enquiries about wider format binding systems. Mr Callaghan observed: ‘The wide format calendar market is growing, especially with the HP Indigo B2 press. We have the machines that can do it; we can bind up to 900 mm wide and inline up to 750 mm wide. In Europe it is common to have these machines. We feel that there are people in the UK now investigating this.’
